The CIA Faked a Sci-Fi Movie to Rescue 6 Americans

On 4 November 1979 militants seized the US embassy in Tehran. Six American diplomats -- Robert Anders, Mark and Cora Lijek, Joe and Kathy Stafford, and Lee Schatz -- were working in the consular building and slipped away. Canadian ambassador Ken Taylor and immigration officer John Sheardown hid them in their homes for nearly three months.

CIA exfiltration and disguise specialist Tony Mendez chose a cover story: the six would leave as a Canadian film crew that had been scouting locations for a science-fiction film called "Argo." With makeup artist John Chambers and effects man Bob Sidell, he set up "Studio Six Productions" in an office at Sunset Gower Studios in Hollywood, printed business cards, gave a real unproduced script (an adaptation of Roger Zelazny's "Lord of Light") a new title, and bought ads in the trade papers. Within weeks the fake studio was receiving real scripts and pitches.

Canada's government secretly authorised genuine Canadian passports under the cover names. In Tehran, Mendez stamped them with Iranian visas; his ink pad had dried out, so he moistened it with some of the ambassador's scotch. At Mehrabad Airport in late January 1980 there was no chase of the kind shown in the 2012 film "Argo": according to the escapees' accounts to Wired, an immigration officer walked off with their passports, came back with tea and waved them through to their Swissair flight. Studio Six's secret phone line then got its first and only call: "They made it out." The public thanked Canada; the CIA's part stayed secret for years.

Sources: Joshuah Bearman, "How the CIA Used a Fake Sci-Fi Flick to Rescue Americans From Tehran," Wired (April 2007); Global Affairs Canada, "Ken Taylor and the Canadian Caper"; Wikipedia, "Canadian Caper" and "Tony Mendez"; CIA photo collection on the operation.

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Images: "Argo" trade ad, Studio Six portfolio and producer notes, and Mendez with President Carter -- CIA (public domain), via Wikimedia Commons. US embassy gate, 4 Nov 1979 -- unknown photographer (PD-Iran), via Wikimedia Commons. Robert Anders with his Studio 6 card -- US Mission Canada, CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/), cropped. "Thank you Canada" welcome -- US Department of State (public domain).